


20 Steps to Falling in Love

by alittlebugsheadx



Category: Riverdale - Fandom, bughead - Fandom
Genre: Betty and Jughead are bestfriends, But mostly fluff, Everyone ships bughead, Exciting Betty, F/M, Jughead Jones Loves Betty Cooper, Jughead's pov sometimes, Some angst, toothrotting fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-06-30 19:35:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15758283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlebugsheadx/pseuds/alittlebugsheadx





	1. Chapter 1

“Another round on me!” Veronica squealed as Sweet Pea carried her onto the counter. The whole bar cheered before resuming to their usual volume.

“Hey, not up here!” Mark, the bartender, told them off. Giggling, Veronica jumped down, leading Sweet Pea to make out against the wall by the bathroom as the rest of the group remained around the edge of the pool table.

Betty was sitting on the table, arms hanging lightly over Jughead’s shoulders, who stood in front of her, with his back to her. He was comfortable, in her loose embrace: he was close enough to smell her unique, Gardenia smell, yet she couldn’t see the blush that climbed up his cheeks whenever she rested her head on his shoulder, in between chugs.

Next to Fangs was Kevin, and then Archie and Toni made up the rest of the ensemble.

“So, let’s get real, shall we?” Fangs hoisted himself up onto the table, besides Betty.

“Hmm,” she hinted her interest, “What do you have in mind exactly?”

“When are you two going to suck it up and just fuck already? Come on, we’re all waiting.”

Jughead choked on his beer but quickly recovered, as the rest of them whooped with excitement.

Betty, tilting her head back, laughed, “What are you on about, Fangs?”

“You know.  _You two._ Finally making a move on Operation Bughead. ” he wiggled his eyebrows.

She looked around at the group, shocked that they all were thinking the same thing. “Seriously? This is what you think-? It’s not like that. At all.”

Jughead did his best to ignore the stinging in his chest but backed her up nonetheless, “Yeah, it really isn’t.”

“But why not?” Toni asked, “You two are both single; you clearly have a lot of chemistry and sexual tension-“

Jughead cleared his throat, closing his eyes and running a hand through his thick black hair, “Oh my God, Toni.”

“It’s true!”

He wasn’t denying that. Yes, he had been in love with Betty since before he could remember, and yes he was terribly afraid she wouldn’t feel the same way and reject him as a bestfriend too, like she did Archie. But no, he didn’t want to just be another score on the board for her.

He wanted to have something real.

But that wasn’t exactly realistic.

You see, Betty’s a special type of girl. She’s the type of girl who everybody adores; aspires to be; and crushes on. She’s friendly to everyone, and can hold a lighthearted conversation with just about anybody. She could always find some common ground, and if that was really hard, she would appeal to their interests, despite not being interested in them, herself.

She was that kind of girl.

And something in the pit of Jughead’s stomach kept telling him, that she won’t ever like him the same way he does her. And this voice can be absolutely exhausting to listen to, and he tried his best to ignore it.

But it wasn’t always easy.

Sweet Pea and Veronica had reunited with the group, curious to see what was going on. The tall boy interjected, “I bet it’s because they can’t handle it. Especially you, Betty.”

She looked offended, “What? Handle what? Why especially me?”

 _Handle me?_ Jughead thought.

“Well, you know, you aren’t exactly the relationship type.”

_That’s for sure._

“Hey, I can be the relationship type.”

They chuckled in amusement at her empty claim.

“I can be!”

“Right, okay, sure, B,” Toni snorted.

“Why don’t you prove it?” Kevin quirked an eyebrow.

Veronica commented, “Ooh this is getting interesting.”

“How?” Betty asked, determination clear in her tone.

He knew what they were doing. They were manipulating Betty’s competitive and determined-to-prove-them-wrong-about-her side to get her to agree to having a ‘thing’ of some sort with Jughead.

Jughead looked back at her, for the first time in a while, “Wait, what, you’re not seriously-“

“Let’s see what she’s got, Jughead. Unless  _you_  don’t think you can handle it?” Fangs said.

_Yeah. He couldn’t. He knew he couldn’t._

The boy in question furrowed his eyebrows, “What do you mean, ‘ _me_ ’?”

“Okay let me explain,” Fangs began. “20 steps. 20 relationship-like things you two have to do. We’ll make up a contract. You do them all, and you  _don’t_  fall in love, then you win. But if you do fall in love, then we win.”

The group cheered in anticipation at the odd duo’s responses.

“What exactly do we win?”Jughead asked.

“100 bucks. Each. But if we win, each of  _us_  gets a no-questions-asked favour from both of you.”

_This is ridiculous._

“And these terms…?”

“We’ll keep it pg. Don’t worry, Romeo, we know you’re very sensitive about that stuff. Can’t say Betty’s the same, though.” Sweets winked at Betty, who rolled her eyes.

“But none of us are even doing anything-“Archie was interrupted.

“Make it 200,” the blonde girl interjected.

Jughead looked at her, surprised she was so confident that she  ~~would win~~ wouldn’t fall in love with him.

“Deal.” Fangs and her spat and shook hands. That’s how they did it everytime. He then held his hand out to Jughead.

“I’m not touching that, but okay, deal.”

“Great! I’ll write up the contract tomorrow,” Veronica said, before leading Sweet Pea away from the group.

Betty asked Jughead for a piggyback to which he happily complied, as they started another round of pool.

Whilst the pair made their return to get more drinks, Jughead spoke over his shoulder, “Hey, you know you don’t have to go along with this? You don’t need to give into peer pressure or anything.”

She shrugged her shoulders, daring and excitement filled her voice, “I don’t know. It could be fun,” and she brushed her cheek lightly against his, giving him goosebumps…in this very hot bar.

_Oh it will be fun._

They ordered their drinks and he led her back to the pool table.

 _What have I signed onto?_ Jughead pondered. Betty also thought what this whole ordeal would bring, with a temptation to find out soon.

She would be 200 bucks richer, that’s for sure.

_But little did she know that falling in love was the biggest win of all._


	2. Chapter 2

“Okay! Now, I know you know each other well, blah, blah, blah, but the first date is always a special one. It may be awkward, but that’s okay. You guys are obviously already quite close. So it’s understandable. The important thing is-“

“To have fun, yeah we got it.”

“I was going to say,” Veronica rolled her eyes, “Betty order the most expensive thing on the menu and see how he reacts. That’s the real indicator.”

Betty chuckled, “Alright, thanks for the tip, V.”

“Also,” she looked at her friend knowingly, “I doubt you’ve ever been on a date before, Jughead-

“V!”

“-but it’s typical to keep it in your pants for at least the first date, alright? Keep it classy.”

As he felt his whole face go bright red, Betty frowned at V for making him uncomfortable, before quickly changing the subject. “So where do we sign?”

Fangs and Veronica looked between each other before looking at the couple, “No rush. No rush. We were thinking of letting you two talk, before you agree to this officially. You know, just in case you aren’t up for it. Love is a dangerous thing to play with, after all.” They then headed over to the counter, leaving Jughead and Betty in the booth.

_Love definitely is a dangerous thing to play with._

Betty stifled a snort, for Jughead’s sake. Jughead figures falling in love wasn’t on her agenda, at this age anyway.

Jughead looked over at Betty’s sheepish smile, “What? What is it?”

“I just…I’m fine with it, if you are?”

He shrugged, “Sure. Like you said, it could be fun.”

She quirked an eyebrow, slightly suspicious. _With a good right to be._

“Yeah, and we’ll be 200 bucks richer.”

Jughead averted his gaze to the empty booth across from them, ignoring the ache in his chest, “Right. Yeah.”

“This isn’t going to like change anything between us, right?”

_Only everything._

“Right, of course.” He looked at her to see her face, completely unreadable, to him. Was she excited? Was she worried? He couldn’t tell.

“Okay, great, then let’s sign this thing. By the way, Jug,” she placed her warm hand on top of his, regaining his gaze on her. “You don’t have to worry, I’m not going to fall in love with you.”

He chuckled as she winked and signed the document, with him following suit.

_Oh Betty._

_If only._

***

“So, first thing’s first, Jughead wiped his mouth clean of crumbs with a napkin, as Betty took a picture of his burger-filled face, giggling to herself.

“Date?”

She replied, “Wow…You’re practically begging.”

“Well, I mean you kind of already agreed so…” his ears went red. _Maybe he should start over?_

She slid out of the booth, “Mr Jones, you’re going to have to at least form a full sentence for me to accept. Basic etiquette. Do I have to teach you everything?”

He stood up too, and looking down at her with his kind eyes he said quietly, “Yes.”

Amusement vanished from her eyes, and her smile was wiped off. She swallowed and brushed his warm bottom lip with her index finger, “You have a little…”

He was about to utter his thanks when a certain red headed boy entered the diner, with Reggie and his other jocks by his side. “Betty! Hey! Jug!”

Betty turned to see him, and Jughead could have sworn he saw disappointment wash across her face for a brief moment. “Hey Arch, how was the game?”

Archie started rambling but Jughead zoned out, focusing on Betty’s features. Eyes so deep, he wondered what stories they told. Lips so delicately created, every smile was different. _Did she plan it that way? Did she reserve a certain smile for Jughead as he did her?_ Nose so adorably cute when she scrunched it up and cringed. Eyelashes so protective of her eyes that told such stories. Like she was of herself. Jughead and her had been bestfriends since he could remember, but there were still some things he didn’t know about Betty Cooper, believe it or not. To be honest, he thought that there would always be things that nobody knew about Betty Cooper. But he wanted to. She intrigued him, like no mystery before. He wanted to read her pages, memorise the lines, words, punctuation. The whole lot.

He wanted all of her.

_If only she wanted him too._

***

“Alright, let me try again,” he began as they walked to her house. He stepped in front of her, blocking her with his larger frame and knelt down on one knee, pulling out a red rose, he had picked earlier, from his pocket. Looking up at her with the biggest puppy dog eyes known to man, he asked, “Betty Cooper, will you do me the honour of going on a first date with me?”

She looked down at him with amusement, before putting her hands up to her mouth, gasping, “Jughead Jones! I thought you’d never ask!”

She happily accepted the rose, laughing to herself, and he stood up, linking his arm with her’s as they continued down the path to her home. Jughead didn’t even try to supress the huge grin on his face. Even when she looked up at him with the most loving eyes he could ever imagine looking at him.

Reluctantly, Jughead let her slip her arm out of his when they arrived at her house.

“I’ll pick you up at 7?”

“Sounds good,” she grinned before waving him goodbye and skipping to her front door.

Jughead checked that she got in okay before walking out of the driveway, smiling to himself.

_Yep. This was definitely not going to end well for him._


	3. Chapter 3

Jughead lay wide awake, sheets wrapped around him uncomfortably. He kept shifting and readjusting but nothing was working.

He couldn’t sleep.

Betty’s soft whisper, “ _This is my favourite part_ ,” kept ringing in his ear. Her lips so close to his skin, made the hairs on the back of his neck rise up.

Even now. When she was nowhere to be seen.

He was still getting goosebumps.

The night had gone well. Extremely well. Almost too well.

Jughead couldn’t help but fear the worst: for Betty, was it comfortable or was it exciting? He dreaded the primary, as he wanted to make her blood rush like she did him. He wanted to make her cheeks blush; her teeth to involuntarily tug her bottom lip, because of _him_.

He had picked her up at 7 o’clock, bringing his motorbike, so they wouldn’t have to walk.

She looked absolutely stunning: a beautiful, black thin dress, perfect for the warm weather, yet suitable for evening wear. He had come back to earth when she stood in front of him snapping her fingers with a “I’ll take that as a yes” in response to what he assumed must have been a “Do I look okay?”.

_It was much more than a ‘yes’._

He handed over his jacket, which he wasn’t keen on wearing himself, being a date and all, but she happily accepted, almost eager to wear his item of clothing.

_He could only wish that was eagerness not compliance._

Whilst Jughead enjoyed their time together on the path, their hands accidentally brushing, he needed efficiency, and he wanted to give her comfort too. _Why make her walk when she could be safely wrapped around his back, clinging to him as he zoomed through Riverdale?_

They arrived at the empty drive-in for her to look around, releasing all her questions at once.

He just chucked and took her hand gently, and led her to the blanket he had set up.

She squeezed his hand and squealed when she saw the pillows, candles, food basket, rose petals and movie screen ready to show.

Still gripping his hand, she turned to face him, smiling brightly, “Jug, this is beautiful.”

He gave her a small, shy smile, “I’m glad you like it.”

“Like it? I love it!” She let go of his hand and sat down on the blanket, beckoning him to come over.

He started ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ and joined her. She giggled when she found the basket to be filled with popcorn before stuffing her face and filling his mouth with it too. After a bit of that, she leant back into him, as he wrapped his arms around her. He could just see the smile appearing on her face, as she brushed his forearm with her finger. Legs entangled, her in his arms, Jughead was at his happy place.

_Finally._

After a while, Betty sat up to get some popcorn and ended up in a throwing fight with Jughead, both trying to catch as much popcorn in their mouths as possible, and failing horribly.

Jughead sat there, admiring her soft laugh, the way her head tilted back, eyes squeezed shut, and smile grew. He could watch her laugh forever.

“What?” The smile slowly faded as she realised he wasn’t laughing too. “What is it?”

He took a deep breath before doing what he had wanted to do for so long now.

He brought her jaw to his, in his hands, and pressed his lips to her’s. She immediately responded, eyes fluttering shut at the contact. Fireworks were set off, butterflies flew, fingers tingled, heads went dizzy, knees nearly buckled. It was perfect. When she pulled away, a small smile remained on her lips, and a soft sigh on his.

He opened his eyes to see her looking up at him, with the same daring eyes, filled with a new look: the state of being impressed.

She turned around, to lean into his chest once more, and he wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her’s.

After the movie, he took her to an Italian restaurant, where they made light conversation, nothing too heavy, and if it was anybody else, he was sure he would have felt all the pressure that the ‘First Date’ title comes with.

But it wasn’t just anybody.

It was Betty.

And with that thought, Jughead dozed to sleep, heart warm and smile escaping, excited to see Betty when the sun came up again.


End file.
